Chapter 32

It hurts…

Everything hurts… just breathing is painful… thinking is painful… movement is agony and yet, it won't stop! Ryoto knows he passed out, for the life of him, he can't bring himself to wake up. Perhaps that's a good thing at the moment, but still he is in utter pain.

"What's happening to me? Why is this so painful!" he cried aloud.

He tried to find or feel comfort, but none was to be had, but then a sense of dread fill him.

"I'm being possessed…"

This is Ryomen Sukuna's doing! It has to be, there is no other explanation!

"I… can't… I… won't… let you… take possession… of… ME!"

The pain became unbearable. He collapsed then and there, but he felt his body move. The pain began to subside, but when he opened his eyes again, Ryoto saw a lot more than what he did before. In fact, he could see behind himself, and there was someone there!

He quickly moved himself away, gasping for breath, but froze as he felt strange. He was propping himself up… and yet his hands were still free…

Peering down, he froze to the second set of arms. "Uh…" then he saw the split in his stomach, only for it to open and say "Uh" just as he did before.

"AAAHHHHHH!" he shrieked, and yet the mouth that formed on his stomach, screamed too!

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!"

"Nothing…" came a gentle voice.

Ryoto looked and found Grandma Tooru seated on the ground, but she gave him a warm smile. "Grandma… grandma… what am I? Is Ryomen Sukuna taking over me? How do I stop him?" he wept.

Grandma Tooru suddenly vanished from where she sat, only to appear next to him. Gently she coxed Ryoto down until he rested his head on her lap. "He's not possessing you," she said in a very matter of fact tone. "But he does owe you some answers."

"Grandma… what do you mean? I'm like this because of that stupid cult!"

"Are you?" she asked curiously. But she paused for a moment. "Oh good, he just finished up there. Ryoto, come with me. Let me show you something."

He sat himself up as grandma stood. When he stood as well, the world around him shifted. It was a domain of pure white and yet he could see things move and shift despite the plain appearance. Before long, Ryoto froze to a giant before him.

"I can't find the words! Do you know how difficult this is for me?"

"Can't find the words my foot!"

Ryoto froze, why was Grandma Tooru… yet to his right, she was at his side. "Grandma…"

"Shh, just listen for now" she said gently. "You can walk around too, no one can see us for this already happened. It's just a memory I can show you of mine."

He began to walk around, trying to get a better sense as to what is going on, yet, as he came around, he froze. The monster of a man… had four arms like him. He had two eyes on the side of his face from what Ryoto saw, and very carefully, he felt the side of his own. There he felt the other eye that grew out of nowhere, he has the same look as this man before him. Yet, when he saw his full face.

Ryoto froze.

"You have had time, you should have been planning this the moment he was born and NOW you are stumbling?" but why is grandma Tooru lecturing him?

He peered away. "How do I explain myself, he knows more terrible things that I have done than anything else, how do I dig myself out of something that deep! I can't just tell him flat out what has happened, why it happened… do you think he is going to understand ANYTHING or accept what I HAVE to say about it?"

"You're making excuses," she snapped back. "I raised you better than that!"

'Grandma Tooru raised him?'

His man, sneered. "Then how do you suggest I do this? How do I explain to my son that I am such a monster that sorcerers come to fear? How do I tell Ryoto he is the child of Ryomen Sukuna?!"

His heart… froze. "Is… are they talking about me?" he asked.

The grandma Tooru lecturing the man claiming to be Ryomen Sukuna sighed. "You have to tell him Ryomen, and I think you need to explain yourself well too."

He appeared more like a defeated man, and a sorcerer feared all over Japan. This… is Ryomen Sukuna?

"Just, don't tell him anything." Ryomen Sukuna pleaded.

Grandma Tooru sighed. "You have until tomorrow morning. When he wakes up, you better say something. If not, that boy will know by the time he sits down at that table. Mark my words…" she warned.

They vanished in a puff of smoke.

Ryoto turned to Mother Tooru who nodded to him. "I kept my word to him, I never told you a thing… showing you is another story" she said rather proudly.

He was silent on the matter, since after all… he recognized Ryomen Sukuna's face.

"Are you okay?" Grandma asked.

He was silent at first but, he said. "I haven't seen my father's face in a while, it feels like… forever…" he whispered. "I remembered… my father having an odd face, but… why did he hide it after a while? Wait… was it because of me?"

He looked to Grandma, who nodded to him. "When you were little, shortly after your friends were born, you went to see your father who fought off Lady Tiamat's uncle, a powerful ancient dragon. The thing was, your father had no idea how badly burnt his face was from the altercation. When he woke, you saw how damaged his face was and screamed, wailed aloud that startled him. He thought for certain… you were terrified by his look."

He began to remember, it felt like it was so long ago, but he remembered. The one side of his father's face was completely black. He was burnt on the other side too but not as badly. Still…

"He hid his face ever since, thinking I was terrified of it?"

She nodded. "Despite what you have heard of Ryomen Sukuna, you need to promise me one thing. Keep your mind open, understand the situation that had happened, and come to see that even now. Despite what he has done, your father is doing everything he can to live right." Grandma explained.

Ryoto sighed but promised to try, it won't be easy!

#

He woke.

Slowly, Ryoto rolled himself up and out of the bed. Peering over himself, he had the other arms, the mouth on the stomach, and in the mirror he saw the other set of eyes. He sighed aloud to it all, worst still… he grew again. "Great, more clothing shopping to do…" he muttered.

Luckily, he had a bathrobe that still fit him.

He trudged down the stairs and came to the kitchen, at first, he stood there to see if his father would say anything, he was seated at the table as mom was serving breakfast by the looks of it. When they saw him awake, his mother smiled. She stopped cooking and came to embrace him. "How do you feel?" she asked.

He returned the hug and was grateful she didn't scream at him for looking this way. "Weird," he said gently. "I just rather not talk about it at the moment,"

He walked slowly into the kitchen, yet, kept focus on his father. He appeared to be tripping over his tongue but no words came out of him. By the time Ryoto sat down to eat, he sighed as his father refused to speak.

"When were you going to tell me, that you're Ryomen Sukuna?" Ryoto asked bluntly.

PPPPPPPFFFFFFFFHHHhHHH!

Green tea was spat over the table.

His father choked on it at first before staring at him bewildered.

"Mom warned you," his mother lectured.

He looked away embarrassed at first, but sighed in defeat. "I was suppose to tell you before you sat down, but apparently. Mother Tooru is very strict on her timeframe…"

Silence befell them, his mother stared between the two of them expecting something, but she too sighed aloud. "Oh for the love of gods…" she muttered. "TALK TO HIM!" she shouted at father. "For goodness sakes, he knows who you are! Quit hiding it and speak to him!"

Ryoto stared at his father, he was about to speak until something caught his attention. "Oh thank the gods…" he muttered.

"OJI!" Rook was calling from outside. He walked in but froze at the sight before him. Peering about he smirked and decided to take a seat. "Okay, this I need to watch…"

"Are you leaking Gojo?!" Father demanded.

"No, but you might as well be, you won't be any better than my old man if you keep this up… and you are better than him, aren't you?"

His father froze, his mouth hung open as he appeared trapped.

"Rook…" his mom said gently.

"Auntie, trust me, this will go a lot faster. Let me linger." Rook insisted. "Besides, you need a buffer and I'm your guy. First…" Rook moved fast, catching Ryoto's father off guard he grabbed the side of his face and took the mask off!

The Ryomen Sukuna he saw in his dreams, now sat beside him. "YOU BRAT!" he shouted to Rook.

Rook tossed the mask aside. "You can't hide anymore, Oji. So let me get the ball rolling here. Ryoto, yeah, your dad is Ryomen Sukuna. What you heard that he has done… he's done it… We have been respecting his privacy since he insisted that he would explain himself to you… but it appears that he lost his edge a little to family. So this is where I come in. After all, I learned this all from him."

Rook held nothing back, he told Ryoto everything he had learned, how Sukuna came to this time frame, and how everyone knows him here and at the same time the sense of malice that is directed at him more often than not.

Ryoto was rendered utterly speechless, but his jaw dropped when he learned Ryomen Sukuna is responsible for most of the deaths of the Tooru family.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ryoto shouted in protest. "My father… killed most of the family?!"

"Over a thousand years ago and had some underling do his bidding when he was sealed, but yeah" Rook said bluntly and rather carelessly.

Ryoto shook his head as he turned to his mother. "He… ate you? He ate your brother… MY UNCLE?!"

"Your namesake" his mother said gently.

He stared at his father. "You NAMED me after a man YOU ATE?!"

His father was silent, he hasn't said a word since Rook took his mask off. He barely kept his eyes on Ryoto as the whole thing occurred.

Shaking his head, he turned back to his mother. "Mom… why?" he asked. "Why did you take him back? Why did you marry him? Hell, why the hell am I even here?!" he demanded.

"Because, your mom loves him, still does." Rook stated. He sat rather contently at the table but Ryoto glared at him. "Don't give me that look, you asked. If he won't tell, I will. You're like a brother to me, well… if we want to be technical here, you are a half brother. Your mom was brought back thanks to my mom," he explained.

Ryoto shook his head in disbelief. "What are you trying to say to me Rook?"

Rook smiled. "Well, for one, you are not seeing the forest through the trees right now. You are only seeing the aspect of your old man for the terrible things he has done. Now, being so vile, disgusting and black hearted… why is he seated here and now? For that matter, why are you here if he is such a disgusting excuse of existence?"

"Harsh…" Sukuna muttered. "But oddly fair…"

Ryoto shook his head. He didn't understand it, not the least bit.

Rook leaned in. "He's here, because my mother spared him." she said bluntly. "Dad told me about this, Suiryu didn't shut up about it for a while because he thought it was the most powerful thing he had ever seen anyone do. Your old man went insane, that's a given. He has killed millions, no argument. So ask yourself this, for a mad man who didn't give a shit about anyone or anything but himself. Why is he trying to live a normal life? Why has he been so worried about telling you the truth about himself? Why hide that if he didn't care?"

It made him pause as he looked to his father. "Your aunt… Yua… has the right to end my life any time she sees fit. When I regained my mindset, I had remembered the Tooru family, for they raised me. I remembered… and yet I took their lives with my own hands… I live with that every day… and yet… they haven't punished me for it. Any other sorcerer would not hesitate to take my life where I stood, your aunt held a sword I made out of my own power to my throat, she said. 'If your life is mine to take, it is also mine to use, isn't it?' Out of all those who have I have wronged… she out of all of them shouldn't have hesitated to kill me."

Ryoto turned to his mother and nodded her head. "Ryoto, we know what he has done, what has happened between then and now. But at the same time, look how hard he is trying to make a life for himself. As well, he is trying to make amends for his actions."

"He shouldn't have the right to that…" Ryoto growled. "Not to mention… you really think having a kid is going to make anything better for you?!"

"I'm just as shocked as you are when your mother told me she was expecting!" he snapped back. "Boy, if I had my way, you wouldn't be here! I don't deserve kids! The world would be better off without me having children. WORST still, YOUR MOTHER is a TOORU! Your power is going to become greater than mine!"

His heart froze in his chest, Ryoto turned to Rook who nodded his head and smirked. "So case in point, if he goes nuts again, you can end him."

"What if I go nuts? Whose going to stop me!?" he demanded.

"First off, not going to happen. Second of all, nearly half of the people here are dragons, that won't be an issue. Third, there is no way in hell you are going to go off the deep end here like your old man. Why? Because your father is looking out for you, he called in a great favor after your birth, a little special thing happens when a dragon favors you. Your heart, mind and body are protected, so if someone is going to try and corrupt you, they got to go through a dragon's power to do it… I don't know anyone yet who can do such a thing."

He shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't understand that no one… no one thought this wasn't a good idea?

"Ryoto…" his mother said gently. "I want you to go speak with Yuuji Itadori and Suiryu."

"We'll go together, come on cousin!" Rook said in an upbeat tone. As he stood, he turned. "Oji, find your words, you do so easily around me. You can do the same for your kid."

Rook nudge his head towards the door. "Let's go, I know where they are."